Search continues for 75 children missing weeks after Republic of Congo blast

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo – A Red Cross official says 75 children remain missing after a series of blasts at an arms depot in the capital of this Central African nation nearly a month ago.

Bernard Metraux, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross mission in Brazzaville, said Monday that teams have been able to track down 23 children of the 98 reported missing. He says the Red Cross is not excluding the possibility the missing children may be underneath rubble from the March 4 explosions.

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Metraux also raised the death toll from the blasts to 292 people. He said a dozen unidentified bodies remain in the city morgue.

The government has opened an inquiry into the cause of the blasts that injured more than 2,000 and left 14,000 homeless.